NBA notebook: Wade says he's fine, though his production isn't

His numbers might be hurting, but guard Dwyane Wade continues to stress that he is not ailing beyond the grind of a season about to enter its eighth month for the Heat.

His numbers might be hurting, but guard Dwyane Wade continues to stress that he is not ailing beyond the grind of a season about to enter its eighth month for the Heat.

He hasn't been nearly as dynamic with his productivity since diving into the stands on the final play of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Boston Celtics. Wade finished the conference finals against the Chicago Bulls averaging 18.8 points a game with a .405 shooting percentage, after averaging 30.2 points on .526 shooting a round earlier against Boston.

Wade had a heating pad on his left shoulder before Thursday's 83-80 series-clinching victory in Chicago, with the team's training staff working on the shoulder during timeouts.

"I had shoulder surgery before," he said, noting that the discomfort never completely dissipates. "Every now and then, I have to try to keep it loose."

Coach Erik Spoelstra refused to bite when asked if there were any injury specifics with Wade.

"As far as the injuries, that's just a competitive series," Spoelstra said of the 11-day grind against the physical Bulls. "There's nothing significant, other than the normal bumps and bruises from this really combative series."

Unlike NFL teams, those in the NBA are not required to detail specific injuries, even with the NBA Finals starting Tuesday in Miami against the Dallas Mavericks.

"Soreness from the contact and the nature of the series," was Spoelstra's summation of how Wade came out of the Bulls series. "Five games of it. And even the series before was very physical."

Record TV ratings

From the television-ratings perspective, the worst part of the Eastern Conference finals series is that it is over.

Continuing the pattern set earlier in the series, Thursday night's Game 5 was the fourth most-watched NBA game in cable-television history, with the TNT broadcast attracting 10.4 million viewers.

Game 1 of the series set a cable record with 11.1 million total viewers and Game 3 was the second-most-watched NBA game in cable history, with 10.9 million.

Thursday's game was the last on cable this season. ABC will televise the NBA Finals.

The Heat-Bulls series was the most-watched conference final series ever on cable, averaging 10.4 million viewers per game.

Glitter, glory

Yes, Bulls center Joakim Noah was complimentary of the Heat at the conclusion of the Eastern Conference finals - to a degree.

"They're Hollywood as hell," he said, "but they're still very good. So you've got to give credit where credit is due."